Six figures leaped from behind the tree. They didn't jump at the dead marget, standing three meters away from the dead beast.
Red finally got to see what the creatures that came for his bait were. It was a dark-gray-furred creature, bigger than marget but not by much. It had sharp black eyes, a long snout, and four canines were visible from its mouth. Saliva dropped from their mouth as they stared at the dead marget.
Red's heart was thumping wildly. They were still smaller than him, but they looked much more dangerous than marget. He tried to recall if the warrior ever mentioned this beast, but he was so nervous that he could not recall anything.
'Appraisal! Can I use Appraisal from this distance?'
Red calmed down a little bit and remembered the skill. He used the skill, and thankfully, it worked from such a distance.
Dire Lupus - F Rank Beast
Level: 2
Skill: Bleeding Bite, Enraged Howl
He was still hiding behind the thick branch, spying on the six Dire Lupus who were slowly creeping on the dead marget.
This put him in a tough situation. The sensible decision was to let Dire Lupus have the marget. Losing the marget would stop his hunting for the day. Going back to the rabbon territory and returning here would be too late because it was almost night.
He may have only had around one or two hours; considering the time to go back to the tribe, he might only have one hour. Unless he wanted to hunt in the dark.
His rational thought told him to stay still and let the six Dire Lupus feast on his marget. Let them leave and make their way back to the tribe afterward. That was his rational thought, but his instinct urged him to kill the Dire Lupus.
If it were yesterday, he would not think twice. He would not hesitate to go back, but his armor and new weapon boosted his confidence.
'I can take two of them with my slingshot and fight the remaining four.'
He had that confidence even though Dire Lupus was level 2. The reason was that he easily overpowered the marget as well. He figured out that the level 2 beast was not much different than level 1, slightly stronger, that was it.
There was a time when he followed his heart, and there was a time when he followed his rational thought. Both were never wrong, and that was why he was in a dilemma.
Without him realizing it, he was already holding three metal balls. He loaded one into his slingshot as he slowly got into a position.
He didn't immediately shoot it, waiting for the Dire Lupus to eat the bait. The six Dire Lupus arrived in front of the dead marget. The moment one of them started to eat, the other followed. That was when Red released his slingshot.
Whoosh!
The metal ball whistled through the air and hit one of the Dire Lupus' heads, hitting the eyes. The Dire Lupus whimpered as it was flung down to the ground from the impact. The other five were startled, and at this moment, Red shot his second metal ball.
He usually would try to finish his first target before going after the second target. However, the situation was different. While one of them was immobilized, he targeted the second dire lupus.
The second metal ball hit the second lupus' hind leg, shattering the bone. That was when the four dire lupus turned toward his direction.
The remaining four dire lupus let out a howl before they charged toward him. Red already loaded the third metal ball.
The dire lupus was fast, but they were still slightly slower than marget. Even so, that didn't help him because of his lack of practice in shooting a moving target. He missed the third shot. It landed on the ground next to one of the dire lupus.
Red stood up and ran closer to the trunk because this was the only way for them to reach him. He loaded the fourth metal ball and was ready to shoot. He would shoot them the moment they tried to climb the tree.
They tried to climb the tree as he predicted to reach him, and he released the metal ball. That was a head shot, right in the middle of the dire lupus's eyes.
That shot the dire lupus down, but was not enough to kill it. The remaining three started to climb. They could climb like a marget, albeit slower than the marget.
That allowed him to get away from the trunk and load his fifth metal ball. The branch had a limited space, meaning it gave the dire lupus less maneuverability. Less space for it to dodge the metal ball.
Even so, the fourth dire lupus almost dodged his shot. It tried to jump the incoming metal ball over, but it hit its front leg instead.
Red could hear the cracking sound, indicating the shot broke the dire lupus's bone. It landed with its snout first on the branch before sliding to the slide.
The fifth and sixth dire lupus were running at him, but he was ready. He put aside the slingshot and took the dagger from his waist.
The fifth dire lupus was ahead, and it came from his life. The branch gave the dire lupus less maneuverability, but it applied to him as well. He had a limited space to dodge, and he might fall just like the fourth dire lupus if he was not careful.
The dire lupus to his left jumped at him. A scene played in his head, and he immediately acted on it. He put his left arm forward and let the dire lupus bite his left arm.
Red frowned when the dire lupus's teeth sank into his flesh, but he didn't flinch or try to throw it away. He let it cling to his left hand. The sixth lupus jumped at him, and when it opened its mouth to bite his body, he moved one step forward and thrust the dagger into its mouth.
His dagger entered the dire lupus's mouth along with his hand. The dagger pierced through the lupus's mouth to the back. He grabbed the sixth lupus with his left hand and quickly pulled the dagger out.
At the same time, the dire lupus on his left hand tore off his flesh with a big swing. He lost a chunk of his flesh on the left hand, and blood poured out from the wound as it jumped backward.
The sixth dire lupus was still alive as it fell. He could hear it whimpering in pain, and he was surprised it was still alive after being pierced through.
The fifth lupus, which bit his left arm, landed on the branch and jumped backward while chewing his flesh on its mouth. It growled at him and seemed to be ready for another bite.
At the same time, Red saw another lupus on the same branch. It was the dire lupus that got shot in the eye, the first one. It lost its eyes, blood flowed out from its eyes, yet it still came up with a determination to kill him. He was honestly surprised that it came for him instead of trying to escape.